What is “Affordable”Anyhow?

Analysis of incomes, home ownership, and percentage rent-burdened in the Red Hook and Columbia Street Waterfront District.

The issue of affordable housing is always an issue in the greater Red Hook, Brooklyn area, as it is elsewhere, but it is particularly relevant at the time of this writing (Spring 2025) when the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is pushing for 7,700 units of housing, most of them luxury housing, along the waterfront as part of their Brooklyn Marine Terminal (BMT) plan. The EDC has been promising a percentage of “affordable” but many community members were saying things in public meetings like “this doesn’t feel not affordable for people around here.” As the EDC did not present any area demographics to determine what is affordable for BMT area residents, PortSide executed this project.

This analysis of what "affordable" housing means to residents of Red Hook and the Columbia Street Waterfront District, was created using ArcGIS StoryMaps. It is a project of PortSide NewYork. Research initiated by Elena Shefsky. Additional research, data analysis, and GIS support provided by Sydney Tiemann. Edited by Carolina Salguero, ED of PortSide NewYork. Special thanks to Professor Beth Bingham.

Read the imbedded version below or see it native on the StoryMaps site.

There are plans (as of this writing in 2025) to rebuild the current federally-subsidized Red Hook Gardens; 31 two-family townhouses, on and around Visitation Place.  The new buildings promise that residents will pay no more than 30% of their income towards total housing cost.  The original buildings were built, in large part due to the efforts of Nancy Kearse Gooding.